BANGOR — A former Air Force intelligence specialist who claimed to have explosives aboard a trans-Atlantic flight suffered from a brief psychotic break caused by a lack of sleep, dehydration and body-building substances, and is free to resume his life because he’s not a threat, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The judge found Derek Stansberry, 27, of Riverview, Fla., not guilty by reason of insanity on charges stemming from his actions aboard the April 2010 Paris-to-Atlanta flight that was forced to land in Bangor.

“It’s something that no one expected to happen (and) most importantly that no one expects will happen again,” defense lawyer Walter McKee said after the hearing in federal court.

Delta Air Lines Flight 273 was diverted after Stansberry gave a rambling note to a flight attendant and then told federal air marshals he had dynamite.

After the Airbus A330 landed in Bangor, Stansberry told FBI agents that he made up the story to divert attention from classified information he claimed to possess. At the time, he was returning home from the African nation of Burkina Faso, where he’d been working for a defense contractor.

Stansberry was charged with interfering with a flight crew, and conveying false information and making threats. The two charges together carried a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Advertisement

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock ruled that sleep deprivation, lack of food, stress, dehydration and body-building supplements contributed to Stansberry’s psychotic break, which lasted 72 hours. Before the flight, Stansberry had worked 24 to 26 hours straight and did not sleep on his first flight, to Paris, his lawyer said.

It was a rare case in which four psychiatrists and psychologists who examined Stansberry, along with the prosecution, defense and judge, all were in agreement on Stansberry’s insanity defense.

“While the charges against Mr. Stansberry were serious, as was his conduct aboard the aircraft, the best available medical and psychological evidence concerning his mental state during the incident supported the court’s verdict,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Lowell said after the hearing.

Because of the judge’s verdict and his agreement that Stansberry no longer needs treatment or poses a threat, Stansberry was allowed to return to Florida with no restrictions. He and his girlfriend left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

The defense earlier had said Stansberry had taken the sleep aid Ambien, which contributed to the episode. But his use of the prescription drug was not among the facts stipulated by the defense and prosecution.

Nonetheless, there was little doubt in McKee’s mind that Ambien played a role. Stansberry told investigators he had taken it, but it’s unclear how many pills he ingested.

Advertisement

“There are a number of different case studies that have addressed particular odd effects of Ambien in people that have ingested it, especially on flights in particular, who’ve exhibited odd symptoms,” McKee told reporters after the hearing. “This was something that happened just like that. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

Stansberry’s problems began when a flight attendant had trouble understanding him, so she asked him to write down what he was trying to say, according to court documents. Writing on a napkin, Stansberry produced a note filled with military jargon and acronyms in which he declared, among other things, that he was not a U.S. citizen, that his passport was a fake and that he’d illegally visited Burkina Faso.

The flight attendant alerted air marshals, who questioned him. Asked if he had explosives, Stansberry described dynamite with a switch in his bag. He later said there were explosives in his laptop computer as well.

No explosives were found after the jetliner landed at Bangor International Airport.

By the time he was interviewed by FBI agents in Bangor, Stansberry said there were no explosives. He said he’d made up the story because he possessed two classified photos on his laptop computer and wanted to deflect attention. He also said he’d been followed from Africa, and that suspicious passengers had begun conducting a “round robin” interrogation of him.

His behavior befuddled those who were closest to him.

His father, Richard Stansberry, described him as “squeaky clean.”

Before leaving the Air Force in 2009, Stansberry held a top security clearance, the Air Force said. McKee said Tuesday that Stansberry was in the top of his class in the Air Force.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.